29 January 2017

Here are some things I found interesting in the world of minicomics, comic books, graphic novels, small press, self publishing, zines, webcomics, cartoons, digital comics, other, etc. during the week ending 01292017.

"And I want to say something to the schoolchildren of America who were watching the live coverage of the shuttle's takeoff. I know it is hard to understand, but sometimes painful things like this happen. It's all part of the process of exploration and discovery. It's all part of taking a chance and expanding man's horizons. The future doesn't belong to the fainthearted; it belongs to the brave." - President Ronald Reagan

Hello sisters and brothers of teh intronets and welcome to another episode of your Other Comics News Parade-O-Links. My name is Shannon and I'll be your host. Happy Chinese New Year. To quote the last prophet of the 90s Keanu Reeves, "whoa". What a week huh? Just a week ago when we last spoke we had just seen the inauguration of a new President in these United States and inspiring marches all around the world. Since then, every day has been a series of events that were never supposed to be possible. There are millions of Americans and millions and millions around the world right now who are scared. Their lives are uncertain. Their future is uncertain. I have my own fears of course. Everything is fragile. A politician or an executive I've never met could end my livelihood with the stroke of a pen. But I'm a white man in America so my fears are those of inconvenience and folly compared to those of different birth country, skin tone or religion. I don't know much about anything but here is what I know about Muslims. Here is what I know about refugees. For about four years my next door neighbors were a Muslim family. They were refugees from Bosnia. If you walked by their house you wouldn't have known they were Muslim. The father was an auto mechanic. You'd see him outside working on cars or playing with his kids. I thought he was Italian at first. The mother was a brunette. She was quite but polite and generous. Most of my interaction was with the kids. They were always outside playing and my daughter played with them all the time. The kids had blond hair and blue eyes. They could have passed for my kid's siblings. They had a trampoline and my daughter would want to bounce with them every day. If you were around enough you'd begin to notice the accent and that the parents spoke to the children in Bosnian. You'd hear the kids playing games counting in Bosnian. You'd notice that they had a pit for roasting lamb. If you were around long enough to notice the lamb pit you'd probably be invited over to enjoy the feast. They were generous beyond measure. If they were eating popsicles you had a popsicle. If the father and his cousins were drinking beer you had a beer. The father fixed my car for free multiple times. He loaned me tools. He loaned me his lawnmower. They were as good neighbors as I've ever know. One time we were over for dinner at their house. I think it was a holiday for them. They had a lot of family over. But, then again, it was like that every Sunday there. They served lamb, beers and strong Turkish coffee. They had a huge gold embossed painting of Mecca on the wall in the dining room. I asked the father if he had ever been there. He laughed. He said that no, he had never been because he could not give up his beer. This was a man, an auto mechanic who worked hard for his family. He loved God and he loved beer. What's more American than that? Picture him in your mind. Out in his yard after a long day of work at the garage working on another car either for extra money or as a favor to a friend. He's got his blue mechanic's shirt on. It's untucked and his belly shows a little. The kids are playing in the back yard. The mother comes out onto the front porch to call them all in for super. There he is drinking his beer and taking care of his family. The American Dream. And he was a Muslim refugee.

Look, I'm super liberal but the New York Times and the UN can stick it up their asses. Will out of touch adults always make bad decisions that belittle and alienate the people they need most and should serve most? Probably.

Speaking of Robert Newsome, Athen Georgia's finest minicomics and zine fest had its registration yesterday and sold out fast. So, I mean, I guess this news post is worthless to all you longstapler jockeys that might want a table but there's no reason every dang one of us can't go to Fluke on April 29th and have a fine time.

The Dollar Bin podcast is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year. This week's podcast features America's most hugable cartoonist J. Chris Campbell interviewing Adam. The whole world is upside down I tell's ya.

Remember pals, life is hard. Never stop running unless it's to pick up a friend. Read comics and chew Glorp every day and you'll keep on livin' until you're dead.

Your best pal ever,

Shannon Smith

p.s. I write comics. Do you make comics? Maybe you should hire me to write comics. p.p.s Say you want a leader but you can't seem to make up your mind. I think you'd better close it and let me guide you to my twitter feed.p.p.p.s. Let's pretend we went to high school together on facebook.p.p.p.p.s. Google + is another place you can read the same thing I posted here.p.p.p.p.p.s. I'll tumblr for ya.p.p.p.p.p.p.s. Yeah, I do Instagram too. I guess it's a law or something.